The Union Communications and IT Ministry plans to upgrade 383 more post offices across India in the current phase under 'Project Arrow', Minister of State for IT and Communication Sachin Pilot said here today.

"Of the proposed 383 more post-offices, 80 are in Tamil Nadu which would be inaugurated soon," he said.

Under this scheme, 1,000 post offices in the country have already been upgraded with various services, including electronic and instant money orders and financial services such as bank accounts and postal life insurance.

Under the e-governance initiative, the department of Information and Technology would spend Rs 97.17 crore to set up the State Wide Area network in Tamil Nadu, he said.

"This would reach down to the block level. Similarly, Rs 55.8 crore would be spent to set up the State Data Centre", he said, adding that 3952 of the 5,440 common service centres proposed in Tamil Nadu had already been set up.

The expenditure envisaged for the common service centre project was Rs 43.14 crore, he said.

Pilot said six districts in Tamil Nadu have already been identified under the e-district project of the department of Information and Technology at a cost of Rs 14.75 crore.

Currently there are about 74 lakh mobile connections and 3G services in Tamil Nadu, of which 14 lakh subscribers are in Chennai alone. Tamil Nadu and the Chennai circle have added 23 lakh subscribers till December 2010, the statement added. PTI VIJ APR